GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com November 19, 2016
Multiple sex abuse allegations against priests and questionable church leadership decisions have fractured a deeply Catholic Guam, but some members of the island’s Filipino-American community say these challenges have made their faith stronger rather than weaker.
They also say an imminent leadership change bodes well for an even greater church.
“I learned about the church scandals and I also have questions in my mind about the archbishop. But those didn’t make me want to leave the church. If anything, they tested my faith in God and the church. My faith became stronger,” says Cynthia De Castro, a 60-year-old mother of three and a devout Catholic.
“When you know that the church is hurt, you don’t leave it. You help it heal,” she adds.
Some 85 percent of Guam’s estimated population of 162,742 is Roman Catholic. Filipinos and Filipino-Americans also make up about 26 percent of the island population.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.